Prince Ernst, Princess Caroline’s estranged husband, is now in love with an older woman, she has revealed.
Ernst, aged 67, is a distant relative of Queen Elizabeth II. He was spotted in Madrid, Spain, with Claudia Stilianopoulos (48), whose parents are close friends with Princess Margaret.
They met in Ibiza in June and are said to have grown close. Some European news outlets even suggest that they may be getting married.
Ernst wed Princess Caroline, the younger sister of Prince Albert II. Princess Caroline was also the daughter of Prince Rainier III. Although they split in 2009, they never got divorced.
Romance royale: Prince Ernst from Hanover was seen out and about with Claudia Stilianopoulos in Madrid, where they were friends with Princess Margaret.
A kiss and a smooch: Ernst, Claudia, shared a kiss at a Madrid supermarket on October 8.
Married in Monaco: Ernst married Princess Caroline, sister of Prince Albert II of Monaco and daughter of Prince Rainier III, in 1999. Photo of the couple during an event in 2000
The royal, who is caught up in a legal battle with his son, Ernst Jr, has dated a number of women in the years since, including glamorous Portuguese socialite Countess Maria Madalena Bensaude.
According to Hola! (Spanish version of Hello! glossy magazine), “none has promised as much” as the blossoming relationship he shares with Claudia.
Claudia, mother of two is known for creating architectural sculptures.
Her parents were José Manuel Stilianopoulos y Estela, known as Mike Stilianopoulos, a Philippine Ambassador to Britain in the late 1970s, and Spanish socialite Esperanza Ridruejo, known as Pitita.
The couple befriended Princess Margaret and offered her use of their villa in Marbella, Spain, for a stay with then boyfriend Roddy Llewellyn in 1979, shortly after her divorce from Anthony Armstrong-Jones.
Pitita and Mike (as they were affectionately known) settled in Madrid where Pitita became an integral part of the Spanish social landscape. Mike was killed in 2016 and his wife died in 2019.
Spanish socialites: Claudia’s parents were José Manuel Stilianopoulos y Estela, known as Mike Stilianopoulos, a Philippine Ambassador to Britain in the late 1970s, and Spanish socialite Esperanza Ridruejo, known as Pitita. The couple photographed in Madrid, 2012
The Royal Connections: Pitita was a friend of Princess Margaret. She offered to use their villa in Marbella for Roddy, then her boyfriend in Spain, when she had just divorced Anthony Armstrong Jones. Photograph of Margaret and Roddy in 1978
Claudia, a quiet figure, is kept away from the public eye, though Ernst’s relationship has made her more visible in recent months.
They were seen together on vacation and eating at top-quality Madrid restaurants.
Ernst, the great-grandson of Emperor William II, was handed a 10-month suspended jail sentence in Austria earlier this year for drunkenly injuring a police officer and threatening another with a baseball bat.
Court ordered that he find a home elsewhere in Austria and receive psychotherapy.
His attorneys explained that he was receiving treatment for the incident, which happened while he had been “isolated for many years and betrayed” by his son.
Flourishing romance: A low-key figure, Claudia stays largely out of the spotlight, although she has faced media attention over recent months thanks to her relationship with Ernst, above
Hola! Hola!
Ernst is the German dynasty head of one of Europe’s most aristocratic families. He has been at war with his ‘ungrateful son’ for many years. He suspects that he seeks to squander German family property, particularly land and forests in Lower Saxony.
In order to retrieve the Marienburg Castle, which is now a tourist attraction, he filed a suit at Hanover in Northern Germany.
This week’s court papers show that Prince Ernst accuses his son of “going behind his back”.
His son Ernst August, also known as Ernst August, had already transferred Marienburg castle to him and Calenburg estates to Calenburg in the late 2000s.
The Duke of Braunschweig and Lüneberg then flogged the land and in 2018 announced that Marienburg would be sold to the government for a nominal fee.
This may have been more economic than benevolent: the castle required renovations estimated at more than £23 million and had been costing a fortune to keep open to 200,000 visitors each year.
Ernst the younger stated that this marked a ‘historical turning point’ in the family’s life and would allow the preservation of the Gothic palace to the benefit of the general public.
The Bundestag – Germany’s federal parliament – has already voted in favour of contributing £12 million towards the renovations, while around 100 paintings and other artefacts from the castle have been handed to Hanover’s state museum.
These were worth a total of £2 million, while a further £5 million worth of treasures have been given to an art foundation.
Ernst August Sr. and Ernst August Jr. were scheduled to appear before the court on November 25, but they postponed it until March 2019.